Hiding FCU access

[puntloos]

Having a FCU like this one

 

Embedded in a ceiling, means we need a way to access it, probably, well, through the ceiling.

 

One approach I saw looked somewhat like this:

 

Which I found somewhat jarring. 

 

Is there some better way? Or is there some way to cover it up better?

 

One approach I'm thinking of is to literally paint over the grooves with paint? Yes it'll be harder to service (you'd have to cut through the paint and then repaint after) but.. the amount of service actually needed is somewhat low, I think?

 

Thoughts?

 

[RichardL]

How often do you look at your ceiling... i.e. is it a sort of effect where you are thinking about it now because of the change but a month down the line will not even notice?

The picture you showed looks neat and tidy - if its in a hallspace. Granted if its in the middle of your front room ceiling or bedroom ceiling thats another thing.

 

[MikeSharp01]

This has the makings of a good / timely discussion. My wife describes me as the master of access panels but not in the sense that they look any good but rather that they are everywhere! I have this drive to ensure I can get at everything that might need or facilitate servicing, upgrade, the back of the bath / shower  valve top and bottom of risers and these all appear in the walls - and she hates them all. On the build I am doing all I can to get them into places where they don't show in the room EG into Wardrobes, behind vanity units, covered by removable panelling. So any other ideas will be gratefully accepted round here.

[Gone West]

55 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

I have this drive to ensure I can get at everything that might need or facilitate servicing, upgrade, the back of the bath / shower  valve top and bottom of risers and these all appear in the walls - and she hates them all.

I did the same on our build, even put a small one in the kitchen ceiling so I could access the ensuite shower tray trap. That was the most visible one, but had others behind mirrors and wardrobes. Wendy wasn't as anti as your wife though. Bitter experience from previous houses with water leaks.

[puntloos]

6 hours ago, RichardL said:

The picture you showed looks neat and tidy - if its in a hallspace. Granted if its in the middle of your front room ceiling or bedroom ceiling thats another thing.

Yup. Middle of the livingroom and middle of the front room.

 

6 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

 have this drive to ensure I can get at everything that might need or facilitate servicing, upgrade, the back of the bath / shower  valve top and bottom of risers and these all appear in the walls

Yeah, this is a worry of mine too.

6 hours ago, MikeSharp01 said:

On the build I am doing all I can to get them into places where they don't show in the room EG into Wardrobes, behind vanity units, covered by removable panelling. So any other ideas will be gratefully accepted round here.

Well, share your ideas first - pictures! Descriptions! Interpretive dance?

 

At the end of the day, you have to factor in how often you expect to use a given hatch. If it truly is a once in a lifetime emergency then just painting them closed with a few quick hints and docs where it 'used to be'/is is fine. If you need a daily service, then no. 

 

I'm hoping a FCU will need servicing about once every 4 years, which would then warrant a ceiling repaint?

 

[Nickfromwales]

Why not box these in lower down, and make them look like a low surface temp radiator for eg? 
Where does it suck air in / blow it out again? 

[puntloos]

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Why not box these in lower down, and make them look like a low surface temp radiator for eg? 

 

Well 'hiding' is the name of the game. You're proposing a (potentially) much uglier solution

And don't forget it's primarily for cold air, so the air would "drop from the ceiling" which is ideal.

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

Where does it suck air in / blow it out again? 

 

[Nickfromwales]

OK, so those are the outlets? Where are the inlets? Needs equal volume in both directions.

Edited August 10, 2022 by Nickfromwales

[puntloos]

3 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

OK, so those are the outlets? Where are the inlets? Needs equal volume in both directions.

ugly version but:

[Nickfromwales]

Horses for courses, but I’d prefer the ceiling left non ‘littered’ and accept a boxed-in unit lost down low somewhere, so sucking cooler air in from lower and blowing it upwards / outwards. Possibly hidden in the bottom of a part faux bookcase or similar.

To effectively ‘blow’ the cold air out, the ducts / terminals need to be reasonably sized and ‘open’ eg you can look up into them. Have you provisioned for these to be at the ends of the room?

You can mount these a little more remote to the room ( adjacent cupboard etc ) and insulate the ducts, depends on the house / layout / space etc of course. 

[puntloos]

But - reviving this one a little

 

If we have this:

 

Imagine we literally paint over the hatch in the 'landlord supremo' style. The hatch would be nicely invisible I imagine (perhaps with some filler if the gap is too bad). But then oh noes, the FCU needs servicing!

 

How 'bad' would it be to cut open the ceiling, fix the FCU, and then paint it back closed again? Would I need to paint the entire ceiling to achieve an even coat or would the repaint be fairly problem free even to just touch up? I'm thinking:

- Since it's a ceiling it won't get any direct sunlight changing the paint colour too much from original?

- In a properly maintained house you'll have to repaint ceiling every 10 years anyway? 5? 

- How much does a partial ceiling repaint cost? And a full ceiling repaint?

 

Basically - I don't really expect FCUs to cause too much trouble and (pending answers here...) I could live with say opening up the ceiling once every 2 years, even if it costs me something 'extra' there?

 

"the landlord supremo"

 

[joth]

28 minutes ago, puntloos said:

Imagine we literally paint over the hatch in the 'landlord supremo' style. The hatch would be nicely invisible I imagine (perhaps with some filler if the gap is too bad). But then oh noes, the FCU needs servicing!

 

My guess is you'll get cracks forming around the outline and it will look pretty naff.

Have you asked your main contractor? My guess is they'll decline to do this as it's non standard and they can't guarantee the quality of the result.

 

On the flip side, if it really does hide well, when you come to do maintenance it'll be a lot of prodding and scraping to find the crack and dig it out again.

 

The common solution is to put the FCU in a hallway, thoroughfare or utility area, which both removes the noise from the living area, potentially allows for a dropped ceiling in that location (making the unit selection and installation a bit easier) and doesn't matter so much if there are unsightly service hatches.

 

 

[puntloos]

3 hours ago, joth said:

My guess is you'll get cracks forming around the outline and it will look pretty naff.

Have you asked your main contractor? My guess is they'll decline to do this as it's non standard and they can't guarantee the quality of the result.

 

On the flip side, if it really does hide well, when you come to do maintenance it'll be a lot of prodding and scraping to find the crack and dig it out again.

 

The common solution is to put the FCU in a hallway, thoroughfare or utility area, which both removes the noise from the living area, potentially allows for a dropped ceiling in that location (making the unit selection and installation a bit easier) and doesn't matter so much if there are unsightly service hatches.

That certainly was my original plan.. but I've been talked out of it by my heating guy. ("too long pipes to the device") 

I guess I can re-attempt. You're right that it's a more elegant solution.

[joth]

13 hours ago, puntloos said:

That certainly was my original plan.. but I've been talked out of it by my heating guy. ("too long pipes to the device") 

I guess I can re-attempt. You're right that it's a more elegant solution.

 

What does the heating guy usually do for the service hatches?

 

[MJNewton]

18 hours ago, puntloos said:

But - reviving this one a little

 

If we have this:

 

Imagine we literally paint over the hatch in the 'landlord supremo' style. The hatch would be nicely invisible I imagine (perhaps with some filler if the gap is too bad). But then oh noes, the FCU needs servicing!

 

I don't think you necessarily need to camouflage the entire hatch to succeed here... If the visibility of the hatch is largely down to the gap that allows it to open would decorator's caulk be sufficient at making it reasonably well hidden? Relatively easy to cut out / remove and also to reinstate afterwards. Might need a blob in the keyhole too.

 

I've often found this with cracks etc - it's the colour contrast that makes them stand out. Filler alone, if against a light-coloured wall, seems to go >90% of the way to hiding them completely. I might be extending the theory a bit too far with the hatch suggestion but hopefully some food for thought...

Edited August 24, 2022 by MJNewton